An ice fisherman typically makes a hole in ice covering a body of water. The ice fisherman positions a pole adjacent to the hole with a line in the water. Rather than stand in the cold and hold the fishing pole, many ice fishermen place the fishing pole in a holder so that they may wait for a bite in a protected area. A fishing pole holder for use in ice fishing may be mounted on any one of a plurality of supports. A commonly accepted support is a bucket.
There are a number of U.S. patents which teach various arrangements for supporting a fishing pole or fishing reel on a bucket. U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,179, issued Jul. 21, 1992, to McEwen, entitled, "Dual Fishing Pole Holders Attached To Portable Fish Bucket" discloses a fishing pole holder arrangement attached to a portable fishing bucket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,497, issued Aug. 21, 1990, to Lindell, entitled, "Ice Fishing Device" teaches an ice fishing construction wherein a shaft with a reel mounted thereon is attached to a 5-gallon pail.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,881, issued Jul. 11, 1989, to Ward, entitled, "Fishing Apparatus" shows a fishing apparatus wherein a pole holder is secured to a container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,708, issued Jun. 6, 1972, to Smeltzer, entitled, "Combination Fishing Rod and Flashlight Holder Attachment" teaches a fishing rod holder attached to a cylinder container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,369, issued May 2, 1972, to Hermanson, entitled, "Fish Pole Holder" shows a fish pole holder which is mounted on the side and top of a minnow container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,019, issued Sep. 7, 1971, to Smeltzer, entitled, "Combination Fishing Bucket" shows a fishing pole holder attached to a fishing bucket.
In addition to mounting fishing pole holders on a container or a bucket, it is well known to mount a fishing pole holder on a tackle box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,364, issued Jun. 20, 1978, to Prine, entitled, "Fishing Rod Holder For A Fishing Tackle Box" discloses a fishing rod holder which is mounted on the side of a tackle box.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,719, issued Jan. 19, 1971, to Butler, entitled, "Fishing Rod Holding Attachment For A Tackle Box" discloses a fishing rod holding attachment mounted on the top of a tackle box lid.
The concept of clamping a fishing rod holder to a support member is taught in a number of patents. U.S. Pat. Des. No. 143,952, issued, Feb. 26, 1946, to Curtis, entitled, "Fish Pole Holder" shows a fish pole holder with a clamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,130, issued Dec. 25, 1951, to Rowdon, entitled, "Fishing Reel Holder" shows a holder for a reel and a rod with a clamp for mounting the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,625, issued Aug. 14, 1951, to Jackson, entitled, "Fishing Rod Holder" discloses a fishing rod holder which includes a clamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 565,001, issued Aug. 4, 1896, to Horton, entitled, "Fishpole Support" discloses a fishpole support with a fishing rod holder and a clamp for attaching the holder to a support.
The concept of providing a fishing pole holder which may be driven into a support surface is also well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,873, issued Sep. 19, 1989, to Van Valkenburg, entitled, "Fishing Pole Holder Apparatus And Method" discloses a fishing pole holder which includes a stake member to be driven into the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,506,912, issued May 9, 1950, to Augustine, entitled, "Fishing Rod Holder" discloses a fishing rod holder which includes a stake to be driven into the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,137,645, issued Nov. 22, 1938, to Doench, entitled, "Supporting Bracket" shows a fishing rod holder with supporting legs.
The utilization of multiple fishing pole holders is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,500, issued Aug. 5, 1986, to Harrison, entitled, "Fishing Pole Holder".
The foregoing references fail to teach a construction for a fishing pole holder which allows an ice fisherman to observe from a distance that his fishing pole is in a pole down attitude which indicates that there is a fish on the line of his fishing pole. There are many devices which give a signal when there is a fish on the line. A typical device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,243, issued Nov. 17, 1992, to Wold et al, entitled, "Fishing Automatic Tip-Up." The tip up device does not utilize a fisherman's fishing pole.
It is an object of this invention to provide a fishing pole holder which may be readily used in ice fishing. The device provides a means to give an ice fisherman a signal that a fish is on the line of his pole.